How did you find AL1?

[:]

This has nothing to do with solving the language, so don't move it to Re check/wierd scenes. so how did people find out about AL1 the night of the first episode? Did Fox say that they were going to put in a hidden code through commercial? I only heard about Futurama through Adult Swim, so you can't blame me for being stupid.( I saw part of Where no fan has gone before on Fox.)

[#1 :]

I didn't. Didn't find out until I heard the commentary for Space Pilot 3000 for the first time. (Didn't even know an alien language existed.)

[#2 :]

I just saw strange signs on the wall in the episodes and then when i looked in special features it said solved AL1. thats when i first heard about it.

[#3 :]

It wasn't a secret. Before futurama was showing Matt was boasting of the fact they were gonna make Alien languages and put them in the show for people to decode.

[#4 :]

And since it was a simple replacement code people broke it the same night SP3k aired. So they made AL2 and pretty much told people "try this 'un!".

[#5 :]

Is there any AL3?

[#6 :]

A few possible sightings, but nothing solid or confirmed.

[#7 :]

But AL2 didn't come in till season 2 tho, right?

[#8 :]

Yep, "Lesser Of Two Evils" might be the first sighting.

[#9 :]

so you're saying after season1,we did'nt see anymore AL1?

[#10 :]

Nope, plenty of AL1 in the other seasons as well, they just started using AL2 from "ACV on onwrds.

[#11 :]

i can't be bothered working it all out so i just go to cgef

[#12 :]

I never paid attention to it until I read about it on some site.  Then I finally noticed it as a neat little extra to the show.  I even decoded a few things on my own.  The direct character substitution makes it pretty easy and David Cohen (on commentary) said webmasters figure it out pretty quickly.

The site also showed an AL2 screen grab (from Byclops) and they had no idea what that was all about.  Naturally, without more help it would be too hard to figure out.  I looked it up this year and saw how it works.  The whole mathematical thing about AL2 is one thing I thought was pretty slick.  I wish they had the "B" character so the font would be complete.  My signature also has a message in AL2.   

[#13 :]

 

Originally posted by Teral:
Yep, "Lesser Of Two Evils" might be the first sighting.

Now I'm not one to argue with a Futurama expert, but where was it in Lesser of Two Evils? Not to mention they said on the commentary for A Bicyclops Built for Two that the door in the background was possibly the first sighting.

[#14 :]

My mistake. I was thinking of this shot but it turns out it's AL1 after all. Hey, even "experts" makes mistakes once in a while.

[#15 :]

what does the strap around that yellow alien say? I have memorized AL1, but the letters are too small and I can't make them out.

[#16 :]

It says "Way to go, Dexter!"

I think Hermes was originally going to be called Dexter, too.

[#17 :]

I did'nt know that, maybe I should look that up on cgef

[#18 :]

AL2 never even had anything good.  There was the secret message to open it up in "A Bicyclops Buit For Two", the "Rosetta Stone" in "The Day The Earth Stood Stupid", and I don't remember too many others.  The Space Pope has a message in English and AL2 (actually, I suppose that would make it an easier "Rosetta Stone" ), and then there's an internet connection that says "AOL", which really isn't funny at all.  The one message I haven't bothered decoding is in "A Taste of Freedom".

And the link provided by Teral, I realize I actually came here a long time ago, because I remember the "I'm really David X. Cohen" line.

[#19 :]

what was the rosetta stone from the day the earth stood stupid? I've been looking around cgef, but if someone could get me a good screenshot I'll be very happy!

[#20 :]

Right side of the pillars: AL1 for "Yummy tummy"
Left side of the pillars: AL2 for "Yummy tummy"

[#21 :]

I never actually heard any of the Matt boasting about the alien language, and I've watched the show since the beginning.  However being a long time #futuramachat person, I remember having discussions about the alien language, and as I recall the Space Pope image was one of the main things that helped determine how the second Alien language worked.

[#22 :]

 

Originally posted by Eclipsed Moon: The one message I haven't bothered decoding is in "A Taste of Freedom".

In English : Earthican Flag Company
In AL2: A Venusian Corporation

[#23 :]

What I want to know is if only 5 symbols were given (Slurm, right? or was it drink? five letters either way I suppose) how did someone crack it after the very first episode? Wouldn't you have to have seen every symbol in the alphabet to have known what it would look like? I mean, I could understand them catching that those five alien letters spelled Slurm, but Cohen made it out like they deciphered the whole language from those 5 letters, and I just don't see how that's possible.

[#24 :]

Actualy, 14 symbols were given overall: "Drink" was on the sign in the pub and "Venusians go home" was grafitti in the alley where Fry and Bender escape to the sewer.  That's over half the alphabet right there, so (I'm guessing now) it seems like it'd be pretty easy, once those letters were decoded, to figure out any new symbols once you saw them using the process of elimination with the remaining letters.

But on the other hand, I didn't bother trying to crack AL1 unitl I got Season 1 on DVD, so what do I know?

In response to this thread's original question, I first heard about AL1 in a write-up on the show that appeared in The Toronto Star the week the show aired.

[#25 :]

 

Originally posted by Eclipsed Moon:
AL2 never even had anything good.  There was the secret message to open it up in "A Bicyclops Buit For Two", the "Rosetta Stone" in "The Day The Earth Stood Stupid", and I don't remember too many others.  The Space Pope has a message in English and AL2 (actually, I suppose that would make it an easier "Rosetta Stone" ), and then there's an internet connection that says "AOL", which really isn't funny at all.  The one message I haven't bothered decoding is in "A Taste of Freedom".

I would imagine that it never had a lot of complex messages since the staff believed it was too hard to figure out.  I never had any idea either until I looked it up.  You'd have to freeze frame to get the characters and then do one at a time.  Though there is a nice tool on CGEF that simplifies the process.  I used it to encode my signature. 
 

[#26 :]

 

Originally posted by boognish:
What I want to know is if only 5 symbols were given (Slurm, right? or was it drink? five letters either way I suppose) how did someone crack it after the very first episode? Wouldn't you have to have seen every symbol in the alphabet to have known what it would look like? I mean, I could understand them catching that those five alien letters spelled Slurm, but Cohen made it out like they deciphered the whole language from those 5 letters, and I just don't see how that's possible.

There were 3 messages in AL1 in the opening sequence: one saying Rent A Human, one saying 3d rules and finally one saying Tasty Human Burgers. SP3k had the drink in "Drink Slurm". Based on those 5 letters, and with the knowledge that the code was a simple substitution code, the 3 ads in the opening sequence were decode using a bit of logic guesing. Finally they decoded the Venusians Go Home sign as a final confirmatin that the code were correct.

[#27 :]

Sorry if this is offtopic,but does anyone know what it says in AL1 in the beggining of Futurama Disc 1,3rd season?

[#28 :]

It says: "This program has been modified from its original version. It has been formatted to fit your pathetic 21st century human-made non-interactive television that only broadcasts in two senses and doesn't even look back at you except in Utah."

[#29 :]

Thank you Teral.

[#30 :]

I still want to know how you guys solved it

[#31 :]

 

Originally posted by Benderboy123:
I still want to know how you guys solved it

 

Originally posted by Teral a few posts above:
 There were 3 messages in AL1 in the opening sequence: one saying Rent A Human, one saying 3d rules and finally one saying Tasty Human Burgers. SP3k had the drink in "Drink Slurm". Based on those 5 letters, and with the knowledge that the code was a simple substitution code, the 3 ads in the opening sequence were decode using a bit of logic guesing. Finally they decoded the Venusians Go Home sign as a final confirmatin that the code were correct.

[#32 :]

thats pretty cool.

[#33 :]

stop obsessing over a damn language
in a related matter i managed to work out the langauge from the hobbit but you don't here me going on about it

[#34 :]

That's because this is a Futurama message board, and the Alien Language is a part of Futurama. If you don't like it you don't have to read it.